HR Notices From February 15
OpTech Promotes Lisa Anderson to Vice President of Sales: OpTech, a Troy-based IT and engineering staffing provider, announced that it has promoted Lisa Anderson to vice president of sales. As vice president of sales, Anderson will manage some of OpTech's largest accounts. Anderson joined OpTech in 2004 and has advanced through multiple recruiting and account management positions within the firm, most recently serving as business unit director. With over 10 years in the professional services industry, she has supported customers in the financial, healthcare, insurance, energy, defense and government sectors. OpTech is an award-winning professional services firm specializing in connecting Fortune 1000 and government clients to top information technology and engineering talent from coast to coast. Visit www.optechus.com to learn more.
Hemlock Semiconductor CEO Retiring: Richard S. Doornbos, CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor Group, announced his retirement effective Feb. 29. Doornbos, who was named CEO in 2006, spearheaded more than $4.5 billion of investment at Hemlock Semiconductor resulting in expansion of the existing Hemlock site, and selection and construction of a second production site in Clarksville, Tenn. -- enabling a fourfold increase in revenue over the last five years. He also provided leadership for expanding Hemlock Semiconductor's global customer portfolio in both the semiconductor and solar segments, advancement of key polysilicon manufacturing technologies and productivity improvements, and the implementation of organizational and infrastructure upgrades to support future growth opportunities. Doornbos joined Dow Corning in 1979 as a chemical engineer and prior to his current role as CEO of Hemlock Semiconductor Group held a variety of leadership positions within process engineering, supply chain, economic evaluation, corporate finance, product line and regional management. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan. Hemlock Semiconductor Group consists of several joint venture companies owned by Dow Corning Corp., Shin-Etsu Handotai and Mitsubishi Materials Corp. Hemlock Semiconductor is a provides of polycrystalline silicon and other silicon-based products used in the manufacturing of semiconductor devices and solar cells and modules. Hemlock Semiconductor began its operations in 1961. Follow Hemlock Semiconductor Group on Twitter: twitter.com/hscpoly
CMU-RC Hires Communications Manager: Sheril Tarrant has joined Central Michigan University Research Corp. as the communications manager, CMU-RC president and CEO Erin Strang announced today. Strang says Tarrant's previous experience with event planning and coordinating communication strategies with Great Lakes Bay Region Alliance made her the perfect fit for the job. Tarrant's new position will hold her responsible for coordination of all communication initiatives. She will use her skills to assist in the development and implementation of programs to help guide startup companies through the challenges of starting a new business. She also will manage various activities, such as website development, social media, press releases and print materials. Strang feels as though Tarrant will help to round out the CMU-RC team. Before joining CMU-RC Tarrant worked as program director for the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, where she was responisible for coordinating regional events and activities, coordinating communication strategies to support the building of the brand, and managing their budget structure and funding resources. Prior to her work at Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, Tarrant worked with MidMichigan Community Action Agency. Tarrant received her bachelor's degree from Saginaw Valley State University.
Lycera Announces Key Appointments to Board of Directors: Lycera Corp., a biopharmaceutical company pioneering innovative approaches to developing novel oral medicines to treat autoimmune diseases, today announced that Steven Gillis, managing director of Arch Venture Partners, has been appointed chairman of the board of directors, replacing Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., of Clarus Ventures, who has stepped down from the board. The company also announced that Michael Steinmetz, managing director of Clarus Ventures, has joined the board of directors. Gillis has more than 30 years of experience in the life sciences industry and has served as an observer on Lycera's board of directors since 2009. He is focused on the evaluation of new life science technologies and also on the development and growth of Arch's biotechnology portfolio companies. In addition to serving as chairman of the board for Lycera, he serves as a director or chairman of multiple Arch biotechnology portfolio companies. illis was a founder and director of Corixa Corp. and served as the company's chief executive officer from its inception and as its chairman from 1999 until its acquisition in 2005 by GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to Corixa, he held numerous positions at Immunex Corp., including founder and director. Gillis is a trained immunologist with over 300 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of molecular and tumor immunology. Steinmetz has been managing director of Clarus Ventures since the firm's inception in 2005. Prior to Clarus, Steinmetz was a general partner at MPM Capital, a healthcare venture capital firm. He has more than 25 years of direct industry and investment experience within the healthcare sector. From 1986 to 1997, Dr. Steinmetz was an executive at Hoffmann-LaRoche where he held various positions including vice president of preclinical research and development, and global head of biotechnology. Dr. Steinmetz also represents Clarus Ventures on the board of directors of Heptares, Oxford Immunotec, TetraLogic and Variation Biotechnologies. In addition, he is a member of the board of directors of Allozyne, Macrogenics and TaiGen. Lycera is focused on the discovery and development of oral small-molecule immunomodulators for the treatment of patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. Lycera is developing drug candidates that target novel therapeutic pathways and that have the potential to be first-in-class with oral efficacy without the adverse effects of current standard-of-care antiproliferative and immunosuppressive agents. Visit www.lycera.com for more information.
